Vibrant colours were at one time treated suspiciously. Any period drama will tell you that a man with a touch of flamboyance was a dandy and as you hurtle through the ages toward today, the insults were far worse if you opted to wear pastel shades. In the era of professional football, men were men; there were no hugs after scoring, even if the footage makes the jog over to proffer congratulatory handshakes seem balletic. There was no clasping of legs in the draft of an opponents flailing limb; this was a time when broken necks were de rigueur in cup finals.

It was a time when international football was played midweek and club football resumed the following weekend. It was a time when Newcastle United were one of the great names of English football. Yesteryear and in a no way contrived is this morning’s playlist, Good Times Gone, which you find in the right sidebar on Dad’s Jukebox, here or in the archives, here.

Arsenal head to St James Park for a fixture which resonates through the club’s history. Newcastle were the visitors to Plumstead for the club’s first Football League match, a two-all draw in September 1893, whilst the reverse journey was made for Arsenal’s début in the top flight of English football. The 0 – 3 defeat made for what I should imagine, was an even longer journey home and a more costly one than the £2.70 Tottenham are charging their fans to fly to the north-east next month for their away match.

It isn’t often you will ever hear me praise them but on this occasion, they do deserve it.

But onto the important stuff. Whichever way you cut it, Arsenal’s recent good Premier League form is going to be negatively affected by the impending international break. Quite why FIFA believes this to be necessary is unclear but then this is an organisation which believed holding a summer World Cup in Qatar was a good idea. A win this afternoon helps consign the midweek European exit to the history books and occupies minds with a more positive train of thought for the next fortnight.

The Premier League fixture list is in middle of a little run which can go a long way to resolving the shape of the top four. Or making it more cloudy. Last weekend didn’t really help but with Liverpool and United meeting tomorrow, an Arsenal win today strengthens their position irrespective of the result at Anfield. Win at St James Park and the worst outcome is four points clear of fourth. It’s a gap which allows for one slip without immediate consequence.

Despite going out of the Champions League, Arsenal should be confident of winning. Domestic results have been good with six straight wins; performances are now coming together with the initial trepidation of the wins over Leicester and Palace replaced by the confidence needed at this time of the season.

A key improvement has been defensive. Five clean sheets since the turn of the year is as good as was managed in the previous twenty. That is down to the unit as a whole but key performers have been Monreal and Ospina. The former is closer is style to Winterburn, a traditional left back, uncompromising in defence and better in attack than he is given credit for. Or probably believes himself. When you see goals like the opener at Old Trafford, you wonder why Monreal doesn’t score more often. Winterburn, possessed a thunderous strike and never scored with the frequency he should have.

It doesn’t mean Gibbs is a poor left back. His style is closer to Cole or Clichy with the scampering runs down the flank and the speed to recover. It’s just that the back four at the moment is particularly built to accommodate that consistent attacking verve and with Bellerin on the other flank, Monreal’s discipline is a better asset. Which means Arsène will opt for Gibbs this afternoon…

Ospina meanwhile is proving more assured than Szczesny. Even at six foot, he isn’t the tallest goalkeeper by several inches but The Guardian interview nails it; calm. The Colombian, like Monreal, is consistently calm, not prone to rash attacking bursts or tackles. It’s an influence which is much-welcomed, especially for Per Mertesacker who seemed rattled by Szczesny’s unpredictability even though they have played together for a number of seasons. When he was injured, it was thought Koscielny was the missing component but it’s proved to be the calm that was needed. It works for this season, who knows whether the same will apply next?

Arsène has to decide whether he needs to rotate any players ahead of the friendlies and Euro2016 qualifiers or to take a risk with them. Personally, I don’t see many changes from Tuesday as being needed. Wenger has admitted Sánchez needs a rest but when that will happen, who knows. He isn’t publicly admitting to having a particular game in mind and away on Tyneside probably isn’t it.

The main change will probably be Aaron Ramsey’s inclusion, shifting Cazorla further forward. Theo Walcott is still feeling his way back into full fitness and is probably better suited to home games at the moment. I am sure that the theory of Walcott’s exclusion due to contract difficulties is going to gain traction and with reports of the negotiations being put on hold until the summer, it will be reported with increased intensity as the number of non-appearances grows.

Arsène is nothing if not practical. Just as it suited him to drop Szczesny with a replacement available, the same applies to Walcott. If his performances warranted inclusion even half-fit, he would do so. As it is, Wenger can take his time with the winger, easing him back in. Oh alright, there is bound to be an element of exasperation on the manager’s part but the team has options which mean he doesn’t have to use Walcott if he doesn’t have to. Better?

It’s a team which is good enough to take three points and with Newcastle suffering an injury-catalogue which has Arsène casting envious glances, one that ought to win. Must-win? Actually, yes; all the games until a top four finish is assured are must-win.

From The Vaults

Not far to dip into the past. Six years ago to this very day, Arsenal went into the match level on points with fifth-placed Aston Villa. How quickly football changes; the prospect of Villa threatening a European place is as remote as Bendtner living up to his billing as a bright young talent or Diaby, well, in an Arsenal shirt. Perhaps Villa returning to the upper echelons of the table is more likely. Easier. More believable.

By the end of the weekend, the gap to fifth would be three points and grow to nine by the end of the season. But you knew how that story ended anyway.

It is very tight. We are on the neck of Manchester City but straight behind us we have Manchester United and Liverpool. Even Tottenham and Southampton are not completely out of it. It is down to our performances until the end of the season. I do not say second is good. I just think how can we win our next game at Newcastle, after giving it all on Tuesday night.

Which is the nuts and bolts of it all.

Speaking to the media ahead of the trip to St James Park, Arsène noted that the squad was “down and disappointed” following Tuesday’s Champions League exit. It is only natural they feel that way and as I mentioned yesterday, it was good to see the hurt show through. Too often platitudes slip out when you want some recognition of how supporters invariably feel; a sense that the players are going to use the pain of defeat – even in a winning way – is a source of inspiration for the rest of the season.

Perhaps losing was a blessing in disguise. After years of bad injury problems, the club only acted when the situation turned horrendous and instigated their own version of the Chilcot Inquiry. The results were never made public – in this case, I expected that and the contrary view is just, well, contrary – although the redesign of Colney no doubt has its roots in the findings.

The point is that maybe the manager and his staff need to look at why Arsenal habitually fail in Europe.

Wenger’s immediate concern is the fatigue from recent exertions and the toll it took in Monaco. West Ham impacted on the second half in the Principality where Arsène thought the energy levels dropped from the first forty-five minutes which, whilst a little bit of lip service, has an element of truth. Per Mertesacker drew comfort from the depth that the squad has but for this weekend, it isn’t much in evidence. According to the manager, only Rosicky is added to the squad from last Saturday’s win and that doesn’t offer much prospect of rotation, if that option is even on Arsène’s mind.

The prime candidate for the prospect of any ‘rest’ on the bench has to be Alexis. So far this season, he has played something like 45 games already. If he plays every game between now and the end of the season, it will be close to 60 – maybe beyond depending on the FA Cup – which for the modern player seems to be madness. It’s the sort of total typical for players forty years ago; not so common now.

His performance levels have dipped in recent weeks unsurprisingly. Or maybe plateaued is a better word; I don’t know. They are still higher than most but his mistakes, such as cheaply ceding possession, are becoming more markedly highlighted. They have always been there but as he was in the midst of the exhausting work of carrying the side during the first half of the season, the ubiquitous blind eye was turned. With Mesut Özil hitting form and Santi Cazorla’s consistently, perhaps we’re seeing it is more a case that Alexis isn’t as good as we first thought. Perhaps there was a good reason why Barcelona were willing to sell him last summer and this is it?

Puce is such an unseemly colour for you to wear. Of course he’s good enough.

As Lily Von Shtupp put it,

He’s tired Tired of playing the game Ain’t it a crying shame He’s so tired Goddammit, he’s exhausted!

OK, so I paraphrased. With Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey not starting on Tuesday, Wenger has options to rotate without unbalancing the side too much. Or at all. Maybe Alexis doesn’t need a rest, being superhuman as he is but it would be highly unusual in this era of football if he didn’t. With the key phase of the season approaching, Arsène will be well aware of this and looking to ensure that he doesn’t lose a key player for three weeks with hamstring problems.

The carrion of Tuesday continues to be scavenged with away goals now the subject of debate. Wenger declared the whole rule outdated according to the media; he didn’t, just its’ application after ninety minutes. And in that, he has a point as it is out of step with scores being tied in other circumstances. At 2 – 2 on aggregate with an away goal in the bank, you are through at the end of normal time. If you won 2 – 0 at home and then lost the away leg by the same scoreline, extra-time ensues. It has to of course, or else you go straight into the penalty shootout. The two are out of step with each other and it makes sense for extra-time to be played and then the deciding factor comes into play. I doubt many would disagree with that notion.

Wenger then went on to note that “Two English teams have gone out on away goals and that should be questioned.” Indeed. Except the question in both cases isn’t for UEFA, it’s for the managers to answer: how did you make such a mess of the home legs?

The most amusing part of it all is that no-one has a better idea than away goals. Arsène doesn’t, he knows replays are impractical and that penalties are as much of a fair way of deciding a two-legged tie as tossing a coin…

You saw this week how good we are as a team and how well organised we can be. But we need to consider that every single day in training and in games. That is why we are so far away.

Per Mertesacker and Lee Dixon were singing from the same hymn book this week. Dixon felt that the Arsenal squad always has a first leg performance in them, that their biggest task was keeping those down to a minimum. Mertesacker said the same.

The German went further, specifying the third goal as the decisive factor in the defeat to Monaco. It was refreshing to hear some brutal honesty from a squad well-schooled in public relations, in the art of saying a lot about nothing in particular.

Not that I wanted to peer into the darkest recesses of their minds, just to know that they hurt the same way we did – albeit three weeks later as we felt this way after the first leg – and that they recognised that they had blown an outstanding opportunity to reach the last eight. From there, anything is possible.

Mertesacker wasn’t the only one; Aaron Ramsey echoed his thoughts. The feeling is shared in the group, the desire to do better in Europe. Arsène’s disappointment manifested in a flip comment about going into the Europa League, to win it with the inference being that the club would return to the Champions League with a stronger belief.

It’s a point I’ve made before and with the winners of the Europa League now going directly into the following season’s Champions League, I don’t understand why Liverpool and Tottenham didn’t take it more seriously. They had no guarantee of winning it but to exit the competition in the limp manner that they did is baffling.

As you would expect, the German went on to take the positives out of defeat,

But it’s still another win and that gives us the confidence we need at the end of the season when teams are more fatigued. We have good depth in our squad and that gives us a lift.

I have no idea how close we can get to Chelsea at the top of the table but, over the last few years, we always got the results we needed at the end of the season. The big target is to qualify directly for next season’s Champions League without needing qualifying.

There are a lot of teams involved in the race for the top three so now we will try to win every game and see how far that takes us.

We expect Arsenal to finish in the top four, it’s just one of those things like night following day. With the consistency of top four finishes since 2004, there is an expectation of meeting that target and despite doing their level best to throw it away on several occasions, Arsenal have always pulled through.

This season suggested it might be the one where it all came crumbling down. It seems unlikely now but can’t be taken for granted. The biggest factor may well be the next four games as United face Liverpool, City and Chelsea whilst Liverpool also come to The Emirates. Tough fixtures for both clubs.

Not that Arsenal or City get away scot-free although the reliance on players from the rest of the British Isles which was the hallmark of many of the sides down the years, no longer exists so they probably are Scot-free. The pressure on Arsenal and City is different; they have matches they are expected to win, defeat or even a draw will be a surprise and some cause for consternation.

Victory at Old Trafford, combined with last weekend’s result, saw the belief grow that Arsenal were challenging for the title. Common sense dictates they aren’t but sneaking up on the rails is a conviction that second place is very much within the squad’s grasp. It is but it will be a tall order. Of the top four, City only have a trip to Old Trafford to contend with. Their visit to White Hart Lane has been profitable in recent years and come the last game of the season, I expect Southampton to know their European fate and to be comfortably beaten at The Etihad.

There will be ebbs and flows in the race for second. Arsenal will remain on City’s heels until the weekend that Chelsea visit The Emirates. That will, I think, be the decisive weekend, presuming Liverpool don’t win at The Emirates over the Easter weekend.

A few weeks ago, Arsenal had the easiest run-in of the top four. That’s changed; I think its City who have that now and United still the toughest. Recent form, across all competitions, has been mixed with Arsenal thriving since the home defeat to Monaco and City’s wobbles well catalogued.

I’m not sure last night’s defeat is a problem for them; Messi was phenomenal and Pellegrini can ensure that is put down as the main reason. They will pick themselves up and move on.West Brom at home is pretty much as good a fixture as he could he have chosen to have next.

Which is the whole point. The certainty with which third is tied up and second lasciviously eyed is misplaced. We know from recent months of the season that an ‘L’ is likely to drop into Arsenal’s form at some point; it’s been five games, we generally lose about this time of a run. There’s no guarantee of course, and an undefeated end to the season would be more reason to believe that steps are being taken in the right direction than retaining the FA Cup can provide.

That said, I happier complacency is setting in to supporters minds. It’s far better than the players suffering the same affliction.

For fifteen minutes, you dared to believe. When Olivier Giroud flicked the ball goalwards, you did believe. But like Giroud, the dreams of the impossible came crashing down to earth and the inevitable Champions League exit arrived.

Arsenal are out, Monaco are through. Arsène bemoaned that fact, “Monaco played at home, have zero shots on target and yet go to the quarter-final“; they didn’t have to, they had scored three times at The Emirates. All they had to do was to stop Arsenal reaching that target which they did. When you have that luxury, it is of little surprise that there was no sense of adventure from the Monégasque.

Overall, the team played well last night and created enough opportunities to achieve an aggregate victory. The momentum built since the first leg continues which with an international break looming is good news. Winning on Tyneside at the weekend will leave a sense of optimism for the remaining weeks of the Premier League campaign. Not forgetting the FA Cup either, there is a real opportunity to retain the cup, especially with the favourable semi-final draw.

There’s not much of an autopsy to be conducted on the second leg. Arsène felt the team needed to be more clinical which they did obviously; they didn’t score the three goals. They were the width of a thigh away from getting what I think would have been a decisive second goal in the first half but the luck Danny Welbeck needed with the deflection on his shot, eluded Arsenal.

In the second, Wenger felt the side faded, lacked a little energy. They certainly lacked numbers in the box at times, with pockmarks of blue in a sea of red and white shirts. One or two more options might have helped but that is how a night like last leaves you; wanting more. More time, more attacking chances to be taken.

It always comes back to the third goal at The Emirates. Arsenal proved last night that the players belief that this was a good opportunity to progress was not misplaced bravado. Arsène noted that this is a defeat which needed to be separated from those at the hands of Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He’s right; Monaco are not a top eight European side but then again, neither are Arsenal. Both are top four teams in their respective nations which makes them top sixteen at best.

I would disagree with Wenger though. The reason Arsenal are out of Europe remains the same as it did a decade ago, even longer. Some of the reasons are bad luck or poor performances; who knew at the time that Kanu’s penalty miss in Florence would ultimately be so costly or Busacca’s appalling decision-making so handsomely rewarded.

But invariably, the pain comes in the home leg now as we did in 1972, 1983, 1991. We didn’t have a great European pedigree before Wenger and the brutal truth is that we still don’t. We qualify, it’s held up as justification of consistency in the top four finishes – it is – but the reality is the only people happy with his record in these competitions are the bankers.

The lack of trophies is a gaping hole not just in his CV but Arsenal’s also. It’s been twenty-one years since Copenhagen and three finals in that time is a poor record for a club of this stature. We only had two in the previous thirty so it’s something of an improvement, I suppose.

Repetitive failings suggest the lessons are not being taken on board. This feels the same sort of exit inflicted on us by Milan, PSV, PAOK and Lens. Unnecessary, entirely avoidable. It is what it is though and I think it was Lee Dixon who said last night that Arsenal have the first leg performance in them at any time, it can be dredged up from anywhere. As he said, consistency is minimising those outbreaks and in the Premier League – domestic football generally – there’s a sense that they have more control.

Europe? No, that type of performance is inevitable; it always happens.

For another season, aspirations are gone. As with 2003/04 and 2006/07, we can look at this as an opportunity wasted. The players go forward to the next match, toward ensuring they get the chance to try again in 2015/16. It would be great to dispense with the need to qualify for the group stage, to have a proper pre-season and to know that transfer market activity is not based on two matches in August.

You can hear the high-pitched yelp of the dog, the creaking of the sign, swinging in the wind, gasping for the oil to bring the peace the silence begs for. Were Sergio Leone in charge, you sense the next scene would involve the angular entrance of a weather-beaten face intent on fulfilling the grubby task the next payday demanded.

Arsenal’s European fate hinges on nothing so dramatic. The inevitability of their fate has become so accepted that there is an almost unbelievable serenity, a rare collective moment of peace in a footballing age where hyperbole and a hyperactive mouth are the new kings. It’s most welcome in that respect.

Of course it isn’t that simple. There is, after all, the small matter of ninety minutes in Monaco to pass before the first dull thud of earth can be heard on the lid of this coffin.

It is a case of Monte Carlo Or Bust for Arsenal tonight. Another European dream lies mangled in the wreckage of the habitually abysmal home leg; there’s still a pulse though, for ninety minutes at least. This morning’s media coverage is surprisingly upbeat, tapping into the mild – and deceptive – euphoria over the contrived title challenge which sprang up at the weekend.

Despite being bombarded with more reasons to be cheerful than Ian Dury could shake his rhythm stick at, we shouldn’t be under any illusions about the size of the task facing Arsenal tonight in Monaco. History and trends haven’t just got to be bucked, they have to beaten and stomped beyond recognition.

No away team has ever overturned a two-goal deficit in a Champions League knockout round match. Then again, no English team had won in the Bernabeu. Monaco’s home record is the second best in the Champions League, bettered only by Real Madrid. Yes, the same ones who call the Bernabeu home.

To win, Arsenal will have to summon the spirit of performances where victories forged in the unlikeliest of circumstances. They need the free-scoring of trips to Turkey and they certainly need to forget that they have only kept a clean sheet three times in their last thirty or so away European matches.

That’s a truly horrible record and the one fundamental flaw that stops me thinking that we will progress. At 1 – 2 in the first leg, I was confident that despite the calamitous performance, we could recover. 1 – 3 is such a difficult margin to overturn. Of course we can do it; we can win 7 – 0, it doesn’t mean to say we will. We can equally lose 5 – 1 but there’s no more guarantee of that than Arsenal winning by three goals.

It’s a night when you can be relatively relaxed about the outcome. I’ve already accepted we’re out, anything more is a bonus. More than that, in fact. Less than expecting an exit from the competition isn’t possible so there’s nothing to lose. Except dignity.

I don’t accept winning 2 – 0 is a glorious failure; how can it be after the first leg but the post-mortem can wait until it is needed. We want Arsenal to go out with some style, a brash attacking performance. It isn’t a night where they can hold back and be defensive for the first twenty minutes or so, that’s when they need to get doubts planted firmly into the minds of the Monégasque back four.

Wariness comes from not being gung-ho, to have the calm experience to ensure that the back four is properly protected. Coquelin is pivotal in this. Graphics showed his average position against West Ham was almost on the centre spot. It’s the position that we expect a defensive midfielder to hold, one where there was a sense of adventure but it was wholly tempered and played out in his passing.

Possession will be key. Monaco proved in the first leg to be vulnerable; Arsenal wasted chances and were punished efficiently. Can that type of rope-a-dope be reprised tonight? It’s a tall order, this time it is will be a case of starving Arsenal of space, banks of four or five lying deep to neutralise the runs; an all too familiar formation.

They could surprise us and play unshackled but everything you sense from their players and coach is that they know they are in a good position and failure would be viewed as catastrophic. It’s this theme Arsenal must tap into and the sooner, the better.

Olivier Giroud has been a focal point of the build-up to the match. He had possibly the worst night of his Arsenal career in the first leg, unceremoniously hooked from proceedings having made his own significant contribution to Danny Baker’s next DVD collection of football howlers.

A man with a mission for the second leg? I hope so; he’s been in good form in the Premier League and needs to back up his manager’s assertions that his mental strength is such that he can cope with the disappointment. It’s a night when he needs to salvage his reputation with the French footballing public, to prove his worth to Les Bleus.

It’s an interesting team selection for Arsène. The back four and Ospina ought to retain their places although Wenger may opt for Kieran Gibbs to offer some additional attacking spirit, something a little more unusual than the Spaniard’s effective overlapping routine. But the big decisions come further up the pitch. Does he include Danny Welbeck? If so, who is sacrificed?

There has to be one and it’s either Mesut Özil, Santi Cazorla or Alexis Sanchez. I’m assuming that Theo fluffed his lines against West Ham and effectively ruled himself out of contention for a starting line-up place unless Aaron Ramsey is the fall guy. That would be a bold decision, especially with the Welshman capping off a fine performance at the weekend with a goal. He tends to score in bursts and offers better assistance to Coquelin in protecting the back four.

But Cazorla proved his value to the side, providing the key to unlocking The Hammers defence in the late stages. Arsenal weren’t directionless but the Spaniard has proven consistent in being the lock picker and to not play him tonight would be one of the bravest managerial decisions Arsène has made. Or foolish, this evening’s events would be the judge of that.

I expect the line-up to be:

In a night where the pressure is off, it’s most certainly on. That’s the contradiction of it all. Arsenal have nothing to lose, everything to gain and despite their predicament, the second legs of previous seasons offer that glimmer of hope. Monaco’s task is to snuff that out as quickly as possible; Arsenal need to make the flame burn brighter.